Contemplating the Unidentifiable
Weather is nonexistent, and the sagging arms of a question that is more like a plea to another nonexistent entity distances me from my abyss. Can I? Do what? The weather is nonexistent, and, foolishly, I think the same of gravity. Gravity is nothing more than a construct of the brain, as is every human…
Cottagecore
By a crystal creek in the grassy wood, A sun-warmed cabin nestles among lilac and daisy. Gingham flutters under sighing wisteria And wicker cradles forget-me-not Beside sun-sparkling chamomile tea. a fly thrashes desperately, then falls still in the cup. By a half-raised window veiled in gently swaying lace, I work wood across wheat, Kneading my…
Becoming
The high school disco hall falls dim again. Throngs of dancing teenagers—clad in leather, denim, sequins—groan. Some switch on their phones while the rest lean toward their friends, cursing the school management. The scent of excess deodorant clogs the air, concealing an undertone of adolescent sweat and insecurity. Nobody’s gaze lingers on Nate, which is…
Kanya
Andhora had only worn white her whole life. Pure and colorless, without any trace of suffering— completely white. Her skin was like a thin cloth stretched over her bones, and her complexion was chalky and pale. Her nails grew till they curled and her hair reached until just above her silver anklets. Sometimes Andhora looked…
The God of Loss
i wanted to know what the gods were made of. i placed my fist next to wide open eye, skin bending to bones just underneath, knuckles like mountains just under sky. i stuffed my mouth with dirt rage dressed in teeth & spit
Notes from Monday’s Appointment
Are you listening?I know it’s easy to forget,but what I’m trying to tell youis your whole life could bea trauma symptom. Are you listening?The memories leftbecause it was kinderthat way. The non-rememberingis a side effectof you. Are you listening?Your mind is not an evil; you have only been made from the worldthat’s been let into…
Ghosts
There’s no such thing as ghosts. The shadows I saw in the windows were just that, shadows – or so everyone promised. Figments of my imagination that jumped from the pages of a picture book I read before bedtime. But the shadows didn’t know that, so they followed me. They followed me through the flickering…
Apparition
They approached in hordes and masses,screaming in throaty, strangled jubilation.A cloud of dust in the outer rimof our vision, the edgeof our flat, bare world. Meanwhile, we pattered through the halls,looked with moonlike faces up at the drafty rafters of the roof,the airy rooms, the gray light, the seagrass aroma. The grown-ups told us to…
today i am a lady
I thought I was dead, butI was only dreaming.The red pigment stained my skinAnd I thought I had bled myself dry.But I don’t have even a little lipstick on the back of my hand when I wake,So I put some on to mark the skin andLet it smear as I go about my day. I…
From Me to You to the Apocalypse
Excuse my dramatics. The world is so big and I can only sing my love in extremes, in nuclear roses and cursive armageddon, in ink that’s actually blood and paper that’s actually a sheen of zombie skin. If I say I love you like the stars then you will burn this letter without reading it.…
Future Requiem
This world is making me bleed. Blood and tears and angry sweat, it’s all falling off me and it’s staining my clothes and cutting paths down my cheeks and no one who cares is allowed to do anything. We were told big words of freedom, of liberty and were dazzled by them until we learned…
Love Aflame
Their first date they played Jenga with lit matches and pick-up sticks with unthreaded needles. The corner of his napkin caught fire and he whipped it dead. A hole opened in his palm, outlined with black powder. They smiled at each other and kissed, passing a lemon wedge between their teeth. Straightening their suits they…
Fourth Dimension Fairytale
at all times i am dying. after all, we could not have seen the guillotine.we could not have seen the way the road gorged itself on unvigilant passerby& the vigilantes, too. the sky seemed a stranger to me. i could not speak for you as i once had; i could notpeel back the skin of…
Dear God
Dear God, Last night I woke suddenly, startled awake by some small sound. I lay there, half asleep and frightened, thinking that perhaps it had been nothing at all, but a tiny crackling noise said otherwise. It was something else that made me pause: a human sound, a quick intake of breath. God, my doctors…
Sestina For Burning Bones
it all started with a dress the color of stars. baptism of the color red. two worlds burning into desire. it ended with bones. the city only breathed stardust and sword hilts before your body turned blade. you covered my four fields with hoarfrost. I never knew cruelty until the day you breathed it into…
Sequins
I remember Papa slamming the front door again and again, car engine rumbling to a start, his absence opening around me like a blade. before he left he told me he dreamed of sequin carved women littering the concrete like koi, limbs splayed glossy under the streetlights. now, while he dances in hotel rooms, Mamateaches…